Last week in our school, and in our Church, seven parishioners (3 students) made their first reconciliation.  Reconciliation is a sacrament, in which, God shows his great love for us.  God loves us absolutely as we are.  He acknowledges and gives us the power to make choices.  Sometimes they are choices that make us and others feel good and at other times the choices impact others in a negative way. 

In Reconciliation, we acknowledge our sins before God and His Church (confession). We express our sorrow in a meaningful way (contrition), receive the forgiveness of Christ and His Church (absolution), make reparation for what we have done and resolve to do better in the future (penance).

Colossians 3:13: "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."

At times acknowledging our sins is hard for us to do.  It is hard to admit we have made the wrong choice and made others feel sad. It is calming to know that we are loved and we have the power to mend and repair the relationship and begin again.  Reconciliation in the Catholic Church recognises and celebrates this love.

Ephesians 4:32: "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

Letting go is closely related to forgiveness. It involves releasing negative emotions, grudges, and attachments that hold us back from experiencing true freedom and happiness. The Bible teaches that letting go is essential for personal growth, healing, and spiritual transformation.  

Congratulations to Chelsea Jones, Zavier Drake and Spencer Jones for experiencing this wonderful love of God in this sacrament this week.

Loaves and Fishes

The Loaves and Fishes meals began again this week.  We are so very proud of offering this to families.  We have seen such growth and courage from students who are now trying and enjoying foods that are new to them.  The meals for this term are both familiar and new.  They will include Chicken Casserole, Sweet & Sour Chicken, Pasta Bolognese, Vegetable Curry, Butter Chicken, Tomato Beans with Cornbread, Cottage Pie, Tuna Bake.

Premier's Reading Challenge 

All students have been registered to participate in the Premiers reading challenge.  Their task is to read 10 books in 10 weeks.  All students should be able to achieve this in our school if we plan for it.  A reading log has been given to each child, one is kept at school and hopefully you have seen the one at home.  Some suggestions to encourage success for your child are below. 

Last week in assembly we read “What Does it Mean to be Kind,” by Rana Di Orio as an audiobook.  Please add this to your child’s log.

• Keep reading all kinds of books to your child. They will learn new words and hear what a fluent reader sounds like.
• It’s okay for your child to read from memory. This is part of learning how to read.
• It’s okay to read a book to your child first and then ask them to try to read it aloud by themselves.
• Try taking turns, you read a page and get them to read a page.
• If they are reluctant readers, find a book that taps into their interests – are they interested in cars, basketball, horses, dolls – your school or local library can help.
• If they are getting too frustrated, take over and read with them until they feel calm enough to try again.
• If you are both getting frustrated, stop reading and try again the next day.
• Figure out the best time of day for you and your child, is it breakfast time, bedtime, late afternoon?
• After you’ve finished reading, talk about what happened in the book.
• If you are reading a book to your child that is difficult for them or about an unfamiliar topic, get them to follow the words with their eyes.

Insight

Insight, based on the science of learning and reading, encompasses the way we teach in every classroom. This teaching approach empowers all educators to help their students grow in knowledge, wisdom and service.

On the first day of term, the staff at St Joseph's joined colleagues (via Zoom) around the state in more engaging professional learning to continue to increase our knowledge and understanding of the Science of Learning and the High Impact Teaching Strategies that will benefit our students.

Insight continues to positively empower teachers in their classroom and support the growth of Catholic students across Tasmania. There is little doubt that as the year progresses we will see capacity flourish. Educators are sharing their learning with a collective moral purpose that challenges their teaching practices through the Science of Learning.

Catholic Education Week

Next week our Year 6 students will  travel via bus to Burnie (Marist) to attend the Catholic Education Week Mass with other Year 6 students from Catholic primary schools in the North West region. This is a statewide celebration to celebrate the unique and special qualities of Catholic Education.

Catholic Education Week provides a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the strengths and achievements of our 38 Catholic schools as well as the people who contribute to Catholic Education Tasmania’s ongoing success.

Our theme for 2023 is ‘Arise and go!’. This calls us to follow in the footsteps of Mary as she was called to arise and go with haste into the world. So too are we in Catholic education called to arise and make a positive impact in the lives of others.  

Catholic education has supported Tasmanian families for nearly 200 years. We are proud to be partners in Tasmania’s future; partners with governments, families, and Church communities in achieving shared educational goals for young Tasmanians. We work alongside our first nations people, towards a better future for all.

Science Week

The school theme for National Science Week in 2023 is Innovation: Powering Future Industries. The theme incorporates the advancement in technology in all industries, especially using artificial intelligence (AI). Innovation is about applying ideas to improve a product or service to create more value. People in all organisations innovate when they find better ways of doing things. Innovation can also mean creatively solving a complex problem.We will be running a  number of activities here at school to celebrate Science in Week 4.

Happy Everything,

Mrs Teresa McLeod 

Term 1: 3rd February - 6th April

Term 2: 26th April - 7th July

Term 3: 25th July - 29th September

Term 4: 17th October - 13th December

King Billy visited Lyell wing on Friday the 28^th.

We sang “We are One” and the residents really enjoyed it. We then interviewed them to find out what sort of games they played as children. We discovered they played lots of games that we still enjoy today. Cards, tree climbing, hide and seek, skipping, and ball games.

We then showed the residents our dancing skills by doing the “Macarena”, and the Nutbush.

We really enjoyed interacting with the residents and thanks the staff for allowing us to visit them.